One could make a colorable argument that SCOTUS cases decided by one vote are the most important decisions of the Court. One could also argue that unanimous opinions are either the most or least important decisions. Unanimous decisions require the cohesion of all of the justices from both sides of the ideological aisle. With such…
Category: Opinion Analysis
Locating Weak Causal Strands in the Justices’ Opinions
In the introduction to the eye opening work on the Supreme Court certiorari process Deciding to Decide, author H.W. Perry summarizes the Court’s lack of institutional transparency. Perry wrote, “Although some rules are published, most of the internal procedures are by consensus, are unpublished, and are frequently unknown” (p. 17). Perry goes on, “We on…
Activist or Restrained, the Current Court’s Movement is Often Directed by the Chief
At the helm of the Senate impeachment trial, Chief Justice Roberts is engaged in politics in a manner distinct from any other role he has or will play on the Supreme Court. At the impeachment trial he presides over the Senate, mainly ruling on procedural issues, but has also shown a willingness to exert control of the…
One Opinion More Complex Than the Next
The Supreme Court finally appears decently situated to complete its decision making for the term. Some holdups are still in play including the long since argued case of Gill v. Whitford. Gill was argued 255 days from the next possible opinion release date of June 14, 2018. Only 10 cases have taken longer to decide…
Friedrichs as a Per Curiam Decision
The Court released its decision today in Friedrichs v. California Teachers Assn. The decision which has garnered considerable attention is a single sentence reading: “The judgment is affirmed by an equally divided Court.” From this we know the Justices split 4-4 and so there was no precedential value to the ruling, and that by doing this the Court…
Mining the Majority Opinion in Lockhart
Yesterday’s opinions in Lockhart showcased some unusual themes for the Court. Between the majority and dissenting opinions the Justices referenced the Kansas City Royals and the movies Star Wars and Zoolander. Atypical to say the least. Here is take a deeper look at the language of Lockhart’s majority opinion using a few text mining and analysis…
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